Rosa blanda

What to Eat

Edible parts: Flowers, Fruit, Seeds

The fruit can be eaten raw or cooked, used in jams, or dried and made into tea. It is about 10mm in diameter but has only a thin layer of flesh surrounding the many seeds — care should be taken when eating it (see known hazards). Flowers are edible raw or cooked; they can be processed into rose water or used in cakes, sweets, and desserts. The seeds are a good source of vitamin E and can be ground and mixed with flour or added to foods as a supplement; be sure to remove the seed hairs first.

Known Hazards

Where to Find It

It is a temperate plant. It suits hardiness zones 3-9.

Australia, Canada, North America, Slovenia, USA,

How to Identify

A shrub. It grows 0.9-2 m high and spreads 0.9 m wide. The stems are brown and erect. It has a few prickles near the base. The leaves are dull green. The flowers are pink and occur singly. They have a mild scent. The fruit are oval hips and are red.

How to Grow

Succeeds in most soils, preferring a circumneutral soil and a sunny position. Grows well in heavy clay soils. Dislikes water-logged soils. Grows well with alliums, parsley, mignonette and lupins. Garlic planted nearby can help protect the plant from disease and insect predation. Grows badly with boxwood. Closely related to R. pendulina. Hybridizes in the wild with R. woodsii. Hybridizes freely in the garden with other members of this genus. Plants are almost unarmed. Plants in this genus are notably susceptible to honey fungus.

Propagation: Rose seed often takes two years to germinate, as it may need a warm period following a cold one to mature the embryo and soften the seedcoat. To speed this up, scarify the seed and place it in damp peat at 27–32°c for 2–3 weeks until imbibed, then hold at 3°c for four months, by which time germination should begin. Alternatively, seed harvested green — fully developed but not yet dried on the plant — and sown immediately may germinate in late winter, though this method had not been fully tested as of 1988. Seed sown as soon as ripe in a cold frame sometimes germinates in spring, but may take 18 months. Stored seed should be sown as early as possible and stratified for 6 weeks at 5°c; germination may still take 2 years. Prick seedlings into individual pots when large enough to handle. Plant out in summer if over 25cm tall; otherwise overwinter in a cold frame and plant out in late spring. Half-ripe cuttings with a heel taken in July in a shaded frame, overwintered and planted out in late spring, give a high success rate. Hardwood cuttings of pencil-thick shoots, 20–25cm long, taken in early autumn and planted in a sheltered spot outdoors or in a cold frame, take up to 12 months to establish but normally succeed at a high rate. Suckers can be divided and replanted directly in their permanent positions during the dormant season. Layering takes 12 months.

Medicinal Uses

A decoction of the fruit has been used to treat itching piles and other itches. The skin of the fruit has been used for stomach problems and indigestion. Dried powdered flowers have been used to treat heartburn. An infusion of the root has been used as a wash for inflamed eyes and also taken internally as an analgesic for headaches and lumbago. The fruit is a very rich source of vitamins A, C, and E, flavonoids, and other bio-active compounds, and is also a fairly good source of essential fatty acids, which is unusual for a fruit. It is being investigated for its potential to reduce the incidence of cancer and to halt or reverse cancer growth.

Other Uses

None known.

Rosa blanda, commonly known as the smooth rose, meadow/wild rose, or prairie rose, is a species of rose native to North America. Among roses, it is closest to a "thornless" rose, with just a few thorns at the base. The meadow rose occurs as a colony-forming shrub growing to 1 m (3.3 ft) high, naturally in prairies and meadows. The roses are quite variable, the characteristics such as leaf tip number of prickles and glandular hairs usually do not always remain constant, thus it is often confused with Rosa arkansana or Rosa carolina, the two other prairie rose species.

Notes

There are about 150 Rosa species and many cultivated varieties.

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